The event runs Monday through Saturday at Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center. It's northeast of the Houghton campus at the Houghton County Airpark in Franklin Township.

The Society of Automotive Engineers Clean Snowmobile sponsors the collegiate design competition, and 12 teams are registered in the internal combustion category.

Engineering students take a stock snowmobile and reengineer it with the goal of reducing emissions and noise and increasing fuel efficiency "while preserving the riding excitement" that snowmobilers demand.

Five teams are entered in the zero-emissions category for battery-powered sleds. That contest is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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